Free Pirate Princess by Catherine Banks Page A

sleep.
    I don’t know how much later it was, but when I woke up it was dark and I was still being held by Faxon on his horse. “Can we stop?” I asked him.
    He made his horse stop and I jumped down, ran into the forest and relieved my bladder. I came back and before Faxon could pull me up, climbed onto Duke’s back, taking the reins from Griffin. “Thanks.”
    He nodded his head, but said nothing. I put my bag on, feeling inside it to make sure my mask and everything was still safely hidden. Faxon rode beside me, looking at me occasionally and then gnawed on his lower lip. I knew he only did that when he was thinking and he wouldn’t form logical statements if we asked him anything right now so I moved up between Jared and Esmeralda.
    “How are you feeling?” she asked me.
    “Great,” I said, stretching my arms, “Except that my butt is sore.”
    “We’ll be stopping for the night soon,” Jared said with a smile.
    “I’m hungry,” I said as my stomach growled.
    “We’ll eat when we get to the spot,” Esmeralda assured me.
    I looked up at the night sky and the stars above us and enjoyed the quiet. “It’s very peaceful here,” I whispered.
    “The valley is very peaceful,” Jared agreed, “But peaceful is boring.”
    I laughed and looked at him, “I bet you were fun to see during the wars.”
    Esmeralda pretended like she had a fan in her hand and waved it towards her face. “Oh my, was he!”
    Jared scowled at her. “So you’re saying I’m not fun now?”
    “You’re grumpy,” she told him.
    “And out of shape,” Griffin said from behind us.
    Jared twisted around in his saddle and said, “I’ll show you out of shape, old man.”
    “See? Grumpy,” Esmeralda said with a snicker.
    “I miss war,” he admitted, “But peace means I know my wife is safe and my kingdom is safe, which is worth me being bored.”
    “Why don’t you hold tournaments anymore?” I asked him.
    “No one participates if they know he is going to be there,” Esmeralda said, “They all know they’re going to lose and so they won’t play.”
    “Why not make the victor fight you and no matter what the victor gets a prize and status as the victor, but then you get the joy of fighting and defeating them?” I suggested.
    “Because the kingdom knows they really aren’t the winner if he defeats them,” Griffin said.
    “Plus, no one wants to see their king lose anyways,” Faxon said, finally back to reality and the present.
    “I guess that’s true,” I said when I thought about it.
    “I would have to meet whoever could beat him,” Esmeralda said with a teasing smile at her husband.
    “As if anyone could beat me,” Jared said cockily.
    “Tilia might be able to by the time she’s eighteen,” Griffin said.
    Jared looked at me and said, “Maybe I’ll make you battle me for the throne and you can only have it if you beat me.”
    “I wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings and embarrass you in front of your kingdom like that,” I told him.
    “Your training is going to become very very difficult,” he told me.
    I smiled and said, “Good. That just means I’ll be able to beat you faster.”
    Esmeralda laughed and said, “You’re definitely related to me.”
    “I tried to tell you that earlier,” Faxon muttered.
    “You aren’t going to force me into an arranged marriage, are you?” I asked them.
    Esmeralda looked like I had smacked her. “Of course not!”
    “We haven’t done arranged marriages in a century,” Jared said.
    I exhaled. “Well, my dad wasn’t sure and told me to be prepared just in case.”
    “Does your dad do arranged marriages?” Esmeralda asked.
    I shook my head. “No.”
    “Well you don’t have to worry about that,” Jared said, “We aren’t going to force you to do anything.”
    “Except not be a pirate,” I fake pouted.
    Esmeralda laughed. “Except that.”
    “Well, I guess I’m okay with that. Most pirates don’t have very long careers anyways,” I